One year since Paradise Papers – EU has taken some action, but more must be done to end tax dodging

Monday November 5 is the one-year anniversary of the publication of the Paradise Papers, which made front-page headlines around the world.

In the immediate aftermath, the revelations caused political leaders to denounce tax dodging and promise improvements. However, one year after the scandal, most of the problems that led to Paradise Papers remain unaddressed.

The European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) is part of a global campaign to mark the one-year anniversary, and is calling on governments to take action and make multinational corporations pay their share of tax.

On Monday 5 November at 15.00 Brussels time, Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at Eurodad, will also be part of a civil society online press conference, organised by the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

Commenting on the state of play, Ryding said:

“One year on, we’re still far from the point where the problems in our tax system have been fixed. Globally, corporate tax avoidance is costing countries an estimated US$500 billion per year. In the world’s poorest countries, one type of corporate tax avoidance alone is costing countries around US$100 billion per year. This money is greatly needed to fund public services such as healthcare and education, as well as climate action and sustainable development.

“At the EU level, we have seen some action to prevent wealthy individuals from hiding their wealth and evading tax. We welcome the EU’s decision to stop anonymous shell companies by introducing public registers showing who owns companies in the EU. Unfortunately, we have not seen the same progress when it comes to making multinational corporations pay their share of tax. Instead, EU governments have been deadlocked in internal disagreement, and there has been a lack of political will to move forward. One painful example of this is the question of whether citizens should be allowed to see where multinational corporations are doing business, and how much tax they pay, in each country where they operate. We know that this can help reduce corporate tax avoidance, but for a year EU Member States have made no headway. They are meeting again at the end of this month, but it is not clear whether they will even put this issue on the agenda.

“Furthermore, several EU countries continue to behave like tax havens, including for example the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Malta.

“There is no time to waste. Tax justice is necessary to finance development and fight inequality. This includes gender inequality. When public services fail, women often carry the heaviest load, and step into unpaid care work to compensate for the shortfall. Therefore, tax justice is vital for ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women.”

The Global Alliance for Tax Justice marks the one-year anniversary of the Paradise Papers with global Days of Action to Make Multinationals Pay Their Share of Tax and an online press conference,.

The press conference will include the following speakers from leading civil society organisations and members of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, who will outline the state of play and propose action to solve international corporate tax dodging: